BOSTON – The Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) today announced that 2013 Boston Marathon® men's champion Lelisa Desisa, of Ethiopia, will compete in the 2013 B.A.A. 10K on Sunday, June 23. Desisa will compete among Olympic and World Championship finalists, national record holders, and the defending champions of the B.A.A. Distance Medley. The B.A.A. 10K is the second race of the 2013 B.A.A. Distance Medley, a three-race series which awards $100,000 USD to the male and female with the fastest cumulative time from the three races. In addition, the B.A.A. 10K offers a combined prize purse of nearly $30,000 USD.

For each of the first two years of the B.A.A. 10K, the men's race produced the world's leading time to date for that year.

Following the 2013 B.A.A. 5K, American Aaron Braun (AZ) is in first place on the men’s B.A.A. Distance Medley Leader Board. The 2012 Manchester (CT) Road Race champion finished second in the B.A.A. 5K, running 13:40. Braun will be joined in the B.A.A. 10K by Jason Hartmann (CO), the fourth place finisher and top American in the 2012 and 2013 Boston Marathon, and Massachusetts natives Nate Jenkins and Mark Amirault.

In the women’s race, 2012 B.A.A. Distance Medley champion Kim Smith (NZL) will defend her title after setting a course record of 31:36 in last year’s B.A.A. 10K. She won the 2013 B.A.A. 5K on April 14 and is currently in first place on the women’s B.A.A. Distance Medley Leader Board.

The B.A.A. 10K begins on Sunday, June 23, 2013 at 8:00 a.m. ET near the Boston Public Garden. The 6.2-mile course is a scenic tour through Boston's Back Bay neighborhood. Starting on Charles Street, the race winds down picturesque Commonwealth Avenue and Bay State Road as far west as Babcock Street near Boston University, before heading back on Commonwealth Avenue, around the Public Garden, and finishing on Charles Street. Registration for the B.A.A. 10K is closed. For more information about the B.A.A. 10K, please visit www.baa.org.

Although not an official entrant, Roberta “Bobbi” Gibb became the first woman to run the Boston Marathon. Joining the starting field shortly after the gun had been fired, Gibb finished the race in 3:21:40 to place 126th overall. Gibb again claimed the “unofficial” title in 1967 and 1968.